ISIS IN BIBLE PROPHECY
How Can We Defeat ISIS, PART TWO
In the first
installment we examined ISIS, caliphates, and “orthodox Islam.”
Armed
with that information, we are ready to look at what God says about ISIS in Bible
prophecy. Then in the next article we combine all this knowledge to compile a
plan to combat this evil.
Is ISIS found in the Bible? No, certainly not
directly and possibly not even indirectly. The most relatable reference is
found in the Book of Daniel.
ISIS’s nickname is DAESH which means “to
crush underfoot” in Arabic. Christians have marveled at this definition
and its similarity to a Bible verse which describes Daniel’s fourth terrifying
Beast (which will be the Empire of the Antichrist):
It devoured and crushed and
trampled down the remainder with its
feet. (Daniel
7: 7)
This is far from definitive proof, but it is very,
very interesting coincidence; if it is a coincidence.
An additional interesting alignment of ISIS with
prophecy involves the location of the Caliphate in northern Iraq and eastern Syria.
This region is the historic location of the ancient empire of Nimrod
and the empire of Assyria.
Mosul is close to the historic Assyrian capital of
Nineveh, and from the map below you can see this area is still called
Nineveh province.
One of the most definitive verses in the Bible
about the ethnicity of the Antichrist references both of these historic
empires:
This One (Jesus born in Bethlehem) will be our peace when the
Assyrian invades our land, when he tramples on our citadels. Then we
will raise against him seven shepherds and eight leaders of men. They will
shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, the
land of Nimrod at its entrances; And He (Jesus) will deliver us from
the Assyrian when he attacks our land and when he tramples our territory. (Micah 5: 5-6)
Here we see the Antichrist clearly referred to
as the Assyrian, so we know that he will come from this
region ISIS currently controls. I do not think that Abu Bakr al-Bagdadi is
the Antichrist, but maybe one of his henchmen is!! It is not certain, but
the Antichrist may well be a current jihadi in ISIS.
The Beast Empire
We know from Joel RIchardson’s landmark book Mideast
Beast that a revised Islamic Caliphate will be the Empire of
the Beast (Antichrist). This Islamic confederacy of nations will be the ten
toes of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue in Daniel 2, the fourth terrifying beast of Daniel
7, the Beast of Revelation 13 and the 8th king of the Beast in Revelation
17. We are told that the fatal head wound of the Beast will be healed:
I saw one of
his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was
healed. (Revelation 13: 3)
Because this verse specifically speaks of “one of
his heads,” we know it is speaking of one of the 7 empires Satan has used to
disrupt God’s plan of redemption and not just a healing of a physical man.
(Although I don’t rule out some sort of physical healing).
We know that this seventh head is the Islamic
Caliphate (see Joel Richardson’s book Mideast Beast) that will be
revived. Have we already seen this happen? From
1924 until 2014 there wasn’t a Caliphate on the face of the earth. Now there is
one!
Some people believe that only the Revived Ottoman
Empire will be the Beast empire. I don’t agree. I believe it is simply an
“Islamic Caliphate” and the Beast first arose with Mohammed 1400 years ago. If
that is true, the Beast is already loose again upon the earth.
Now when I say Beast, I am referring
to the demonic power or ARCHON behind the Caliphate. The Beast has 3
aspects: a demonic power, a Kingdom and a man. Certainly the beheadings, rape,
and torture seen under ISIS are demonic in a sense not seen for generations,
and may be indicative of powerful demonic control of this Caliphate.
This does not mean that Abu Bakr al-Bagdadi is the
“Beast” or Antichrist or that ISIS is the final form of that Beast. They
possibly could be, but I doubt it very much. In my opinion, it is simply the
demonic aspect of the Beast that is now on the earth, not all three aspects
(demon, man and kingdom).
But if the prophecy of Rev. 13: 3 has already
been fulfilled in this one way, this is a significant prophetic
development. The fact that ISIS’s nickname DAESH is linked to Daniel’s Fourth
Terrifying Beast as mentioned above only adds
credence to this in my mind.
The Sunni Shia War
Will ISIS expand and eventually form this coming
Beast Caliphate? Again It might, but I doubt it. The Bible actually describes
how the Beast Empire will form quite specifically in Daniel 8.
The following are my personal ideas or
best guesses of what will happen based on Daniel 8 (A war prophesied
in Daniel 8 is coming between the Sunni and Shia that
will lead to the rising of the Antichrist. Please read this link to see more
details of this prophecy).
Daniel 8 foretells a war between the “ram” and the
“goat.” Christians scholars have long assumed this prophecy was fulfilled by
Persian and Greek empires prior to the birth of Christ and stopped right there.
These commentators glossed over or ignored the three references the Angel
Gabriel gave Daniel as to the timing of the prophesied war:
Son of man, understand that the vision (the entire
vision) pertains to the time of the end . .
. Behold, I am going to let you know what will occur at the final
period of the indignation, for it pertains to the appointed
time of the end. (Daniel 8: 17, 19)
It seems incredible that these three time
references to end times have been missed by scholars, but they have. What also
has been missed is that the fulfillment of the prophecy in ancient times was
not complete.
If it was an ancient prophecy only
why did Antiochus (the ancient foreshadow of the Antichrist) not cast the stars
of heaven to the ground, expand his kingdom east, and why was Alexander’s
kingdom originally split into more than 20 divisions, not just four?
So what is the reason that these obvious clues have
been overlooked for centuries? My theory is that a “Roman Antichrist” viewpoint
clouded the minds of commentators because Daniel 8 clearly states that the
Antichrist arises from a Middle Eastern or Balkan nation; not from Rome.
One mistaken view prophetically can cause an exponential
deviation from truth when expanded throughout all prophecy. That is the effect
of thinking the Antichrist will be Roman.
Immediately after Gabriel
tells Daniel that the prophecy is about the end time, he identifies the
players. The fact he identifies the players after Gabriel’s
end times identification is important.
It is yet one more proof that the names of the
players are to be their “end time” names. In the text, the ram is called the
“kings of the Medes and Persians” and the goat is “Yavan.”
As we have explained in the previous linked
article, the “kings of the Medes and Persians” occupied a land mass currently
occupied by Iran (and possibly the Kurds). Obviously these modern names would
mean nothing to Daniel, so he was given the names of the land mass of his day.
It is my opinion that all references to prophetic
nations refer to land masses. This means the Medes and Persians refer to the
modern nations of Iran (and possibly the region of the Kurds.)
Remember this use of modern names is confirmed
biblically because this description of who the ram occurs AFTER the angel
tells Daniel it is end time prophecy.
The goat is described as “Yavan” (mistranslated
“Greece” in most bibles.) Yavan were an ancient people occupying the area
around the straits of Bosphorus and modern day Istanbul. This land mass is in
modern day Turkey. Yavan thus is Turkey.
We then see that initially the Ram (Iran and
possibly Iran plus the Kurds) will “head butt” north, south, and west into the
middle east. The land north and west of Iran and the Kurds is occupied by
ISIS and directly in the “line of fire” of this invasion. It is very
likely they will be conquered by this coming invasion.
We are then told the ram “magnifies himself” (Daniel
8:4) after this invasion. Does Iran form an Imamate (a Shia version of a
Caliphate) at this point? Is that what “magnifies himself” mean? I think it is
very likely.
The Sunni Muslims will then counter-attack and
destroy the Shia Imamate and establish yet a third Caliphate of their own that
will look a lot like the Ottoman Empire prior to 1924 when the Allies broke it
up. (Daniel 8:8: “he magnified himself exceedingly.”)
At this point, something or someone (the USA, the
UN, or the USA/Russia/China?) intervenes and the Caliph is “broken off” (Daniel
8: 8). The empire is then divided into four.
Does the reconstructed Caliphate scare the world
powers? Is that why it is broken into four subsections? That is my guess.
When the Bible says Yavan and
its Caliph “magnifies himself exceedingly”, I think this is the reason
that the powers that break off the horn; they are scared by the Caliphate.
The Yavan Empire (revived Ottoman Empire) will be exceedingly powerful.
Rise of Antichrist
It is only after the break-up of the Yavan
Empire that the Antichrist arises from one of these four
areas. IMO, he eventually re-consolidates yet another (fourth) Caliphate
and begins his reign of terror.
So, based on the Bible, I believe we can assume
that ISIS will be destroyed by Iran in the near future. It is also likely
however, that a Caliphate will exist on the earth from this point until the
return of Jesus with only a brief interlude when the revived Ottoman Empire is
broken into four sub-sections.
So I personally believe ISIS is only a precursor of
the final Beast Empire that is coming. But it is a very good example of what is
to come, just on smaller scale.
How many more Caliphs will there be? Heretical
Sunni scriptures say there will be 12 legitimate ones before the “Day of
Judgment.” Abu Bakr al-Bagdadi would be the eighth.
Now I realize that Islamic scriptures are not
inerrant and this number is just a fantasy, but if the Antichrist ends up being
the 12th it would give him great credibility in the minds of Muslims. This is
just something to remember when the time is closer. If this turns out to be
true there will be 4 additional Caliphs after Abu Bakr al-Bagdadi. Of course we
are basing this on heretical prophecies so that is not be counted on.
Can We Really Defeat ISIS?
This isn’t a political article, its a
spiritual article. I’m sure we could all pontificate on what the USA can and
should do militarily and politically. As I stated before in the previous
article, I am not opposed to military or political
actions.
Although I anticipate ISIS will be defeated by
Iran, because Satan who controls all of Islam is not overcome
by politics, I doubt we will militarily defeat Islam. You see,
Satan is currently the ruler (Gk: ARCHON) of this world system (economics and
politics). We must never forget that.
We are to strive against Islam, not just ISIS
because as we have just seen a yet more powerful and dangerous
Caliphate is coming.
Satan has uniquely chosen Islam as the ideology that
will become the Beast Empire of the Antichrist. As such it is and will become
the greatest threat to Christianity in the history of the world. We know from
scripture that the Beast will be given authority for 42 months and it will
“shatter” the holy people:
It would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as
soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all
these events will be completed. (Daniel
12:7)
From this passage, we know that Islam will not be
overcome by the western nations, rather Islam will shatter at least the
Christians within those nations. Only Jesus will physically overcome
this evil ideology when he returns.
So why even try to strive against Islam if we know
the Bible says it will “shatter” the power of God’s holy people? The answer is
that “power ” (nations, governments, military, etc.) is not what we are to
value. Souls are to be valued.
The struggle of the 70th Week of Daniel is for the
souls of the whole world. So if Satan is not overcome by politics, how is he
overcome? Revelation tells us plainly:
And they overcame him because of the blood
of the Lamb and because of the word
of their testimony, and they did not love their life
even when faced with death. (Revelation 12: 11)
The saints play a role in overcoming Satan. They
have 3 weapons in this fight:
·
The blood of the Lamb (salvation)
·
The word of our testimony (sharing the Gospel)
·
Not loving life even with faced with death
(fearlessness)
This is not what most conservative Christians want
to hear in relation to ISIS and terrorism. However, this is the direction given
us by scripture.
Related Posts:
http://www.thegospelintheendtimes.com/islam/how-can-we-defeat-isis-part-two/
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